Idiot diplomacy strikes again ...

[Jayhawker Soule]

From ynetnews:

US military regrets offending Muslims with soccer ball incident
​

The US military regrets any offense it may have caused by handing out a soccer ball emblazoned with the name of Allah on it as part of a public relations exercise in Afghanistan, a spokesman said.

Villagers were "upset and angry" when they saw the ball, said Khost governor Arsalah Jamal. "They wanted to demonstrate, but we explained to them it was a mistake," he said Monday. Muslims treat with the utmost respect any printed matter containing verses of the Quran or the name of Allah or Mohammad on it. Most would find the idea of kicking a ball emblazoned with those two names as deeply offensive. (AP)​

There is stupid, really stupid, and embarrassingly stupid ...

 

[MaddLlama]

It would be nice if the military would provide some sort of cultural relations training, or at least encourage their soldiers to have some sort of multicultural values.

 

[FFH]

Wow...

I'm at a loss for words...

 

[Booko]

What dimwit decided to *produce* soccer balls like that, and how many hands had to approve such a purchase order before it ever got there?

How stupid does it get? :thud:

 

[MaddLlama]

Let's just hope this is the rock bottom of stupidity.

Obviously, they all need this book.

 

[Yerda]

A ball signed by Allah himself. That'll surely fetch a few quid on AfghaniBay.

 

[Kungfuzed]

Perhaps next they will put the balls in a pile and burn them to show how much they regret the mistake.

 

[YmirGF]

I do agree that it is pretty dull of the US military machine to do this. Honestly, they have been in Afghanistan for how freakin' long and they made a slip like this?
Perhaps they should hire Irshad Manji to go over the basics with the general staff on, down the ranks.


No doubt they are printing Qur'ans with Buddwieser ads on the inside jacket to help pay the printing costs.

Nope... that prolly wouldn't fly either.

 

[jamaesi]

What do you expect when you fire some of your most skilled Arabic speakers (and thus those who have an more intimate understanding of the culture that language is spoken in than a nonspeaker) for the "crime" of being homosexual.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

They must have a special department set up to see how to most offend people.
You could not make a mistake like this by accident...... Could you?

 

[Valjean]

Just when I thought my estimation of "military intelligence" could not be lower.....

 

[Reverend Rick]

Just when I thought my estimation of "military intelligence" could not be lower.....

That's an oxymoron.

 

[Reverend Rick]

Let's just hope this is the rock bottom of stupidity.

Nope! Someone will invent Allah urinal mats or cakes.

 

[Ever learning]

Yeah right, they regret it.IMO that was done on purpose.